Tuesday, July 14, 2015

I didn't know many people in the Cebu Blogging Community when I first started being an active member. I only ever stalked their group while I was finishing my education in Bohol so seeing all the bloggers I've only met online in person at a party like this was so surreal.

They treated me as if I was there with them the whole time and no amount of unfriendliness crossed my way as I awkwardly climbed the steps to F Cafe in my dress and heels (you read that right. heels. ugh).

Outside the venue was a photobooth wonderfully sponsored by Capdase which disposed a copy for every person that had their picture taken. If there were six of you in one group shot, then each of you would have one copy of your photo, and if you joined another group, you'd also get a copy of that group shot. So generous!

Not only that but there were also blogger-photographers and sponsors taking pictures of us while we walked in, us while we talked to each other, and us wearing HOOQ glasses! The night was very well documented, I gotta say.

The event floor was sheikh and minimalist which I really liked. We occupied the second and third "floor", if you'd like to call it that, of the venue and begun the program.

Our friends from Yamba, a social networking app developed in Cebu and founded in Europe, were one of the major sponsors of the event and I gotta say they are amazing people. The basic concept of the application is the elimination of noise from your newsfeed. As the internet grows both in size and density, we're often distracted, and most of the time annoyed, by the type of content thrown at us. Yamba aims to filter out that noise and only serve us relevant posts and data according to the categories we are interested in. This ranges from users to ads.

Granted, I immediately thought about Tumblr as their competitor since the site leans heavily on user-defined categories, providing a seamless flow of information according to the tags and users you frequent so I'm excited to see what new quirk Yamba can bring to this market.

HOOQ then followed with their super cool and super fun game + giveaway. It was a trivia of how well you know your TV. And I don't mean that literally. HOOQ is like a Netflix for the Philippines. And it's legal, too! Partnered with Globe, you can watch your favorite Filipino telenovela or Hollywood blockbuster through desktop or mobile for as long as you subscribe to their service. And it's so affordable, too!

Given that, the game was a trivia about movies and tv series and everyone had the chance to win freebies! Despite it supposedly being a take-your-turn kind of game, being the rowdy bunch we are, everybody flung themselves at the stage despite not being a "legit" participant.

At least I won something. haha

Winners got a free USB, HOOQ swag and a bunch of other fun stuff. After that were more contests like "first to follow the HOOQ instagram page".

Those guys won HOOQ hoodies. I couldn't win that. Wasn't able to connect to the WiFi :(

After dinner was a very sweet and tasty dessert by Yoyi's Pastries and Desserts. It was heavenly. They made us a CBC 1st anniversary cake, some choco crinkles, cassava cake, and my favorite: the scrumptious revel bar. Yeah. you could totally tell what I was there for.

The show is located somewhere here. you can also refer to the map shown above by our beautiful promo girls.

One of the most fascinating stories that I've heard that night was the old practice of Cebuanos using real turtle shells to make guitars. They'd cut the shell of a turtle open, eat the flesh and use the shell. Barbaric, I know but that was then and this is now.

The story inspired Turtulele: a company that makes the most durable and high-quality ukuleles. No turtles are harmed in the making of these instruments, mind you. Inspired by the thought of the turtle shells being as strong as they are, the company wanted to create high quality instruments that could withstand the test of time and durability. The end product being the ukuleles used above by the CBC organizers for their tear-jerking rendition of Row Row Row Your Boat. So touch. Much cry.

These ukuleles were given away as contest prizes that could make the best video telling Turtulele why they would want a Turtulele.

Capdase also had their own contest and product demo. I was really impressed on how clear the audio was from their bluetooth speaker. I was thinking of getting one for myself a few days ago. Guess my questions are answered now.

The original CBC Leads then took the stage and took us back for a while on how the community started; what is was, what it is, and what it will be. It was so great to see the original founders smiling and laughing and considering themselves as "alumni community leads" as the organization has matured so much within the year.

Without a doubt the event was a big success. Special thanks to Global Hub for sponsoring the organizers' printing needs and Khublai Khan Mongolian Restaurant for giving us gift certificates to give away during mini events.

The biggest thanks to all would of course go to the Cebu Blogging Community Leads and organizers! Who went through sleepless nights and endless arguments to not only make this event a success but to keep the community going despite hard times. Not only is the CBC my #SquadGoal but so are you, organizers. You're my #LeaderGoals. (lol cheesy)